VCS "This is not a parking charge notice" - guidance please

KeithP

Watch this short video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n93eoaxhzpU

Coupon-mad

Search the forum for hearing tips, and get there early. Take a wage slip.

Wildsound

Update 28.07.19 - I successfully defended my cases in court (under one hearing) and the judge dismissed the case.

Order of events:

I arrived 30 minutes early to the hearing. Smart, suit and tie etc... The rep the PPC had sent approached me during this time and introduced himself to me. He asked whether we needed to go into a separate room and have a chat and (as advised through other posts here) I politely refused.

We were ushered in to see the Judge. The District Judge honed in on my Assured Shorthold Tenancy from the very start, and straight away it felt as if the Judge had my back, so I left the Judge to it and tried to keep my mouth shut at all times except when asked a question directly.

The Judge basically went through my AST and, as I had used in my defence and witness statement, reiterated my point that the terms of my parking were already agreed in the agreement with my landlord and no where did it say that I had to display a permit or agree to their "terms and conditions" of a 3rd party.

The rep tried to argue that the PPC had a contract with the management company of the estate of flats. However, whilst the contract was signed 1 month prior to me signing my AST, I was not made aware of this agreement until 1 month after when the permits appeared in the post. Therefore I couldn't possibly have had any prior knowledge of this happening.

He then argued that the AST stated that I would be bound to the terms of the head lease, should a copy have been given to me at the start of the tenancy, which it wasnt. So again, by law, there were no grounds for me to have to comply with this third party.

The Judge had to keep repeating to the rep that as a matter of law, they had no legal right to impose their scheme on me. The Judge even questioned whether the guy had a law degree! (LOL) and that whilst the Judge could understand that he was there representing his client, you can't just simply spout nonsense with no legal grounding.

The Judge then simply made a final statement wrapping up the case and dismissed both of the claims against me.

I asked if I could have my costs. I was able to have my return bus ticket and half a days pay and they have 14 days to pay me.

I would like to thank everyone's help on these forums. Without it I would most likely have been under significantly more stress and worry, but my nature is to research things so that I have a full understanding of what goes on in my life, and it encourages me that there are people out there who want to help others.

My advice to other people in a similar situation to me.

1) Check your tenancy agreement with a fine tooth comb. If it details a parking spot with no requirement to display a permit, then you are fine. Also, if it mentions the head lease and that you must be bound to it (which in my case I wasn't as it said "only if a copy was given to me" - which it wasn't), then get a copy of the head lease from the Land Registry and again check it thoroughly. If nothing is listed here, then you are fine. If, for any reason, it does mention it, check whether it was before or after you moved in. If after then, unless you have given explicit consent, it can't be binding on you.

2) Keep it straight forward - Don't try and hone in on points which are either minor or aren't fundamental to your argument/defence. I spent a lot of time looking into the Protection of Freedoms Act and trying to find holes in the way they conducted themselves. Whilst their "hybrid tickets" may well have held up had it been the main crux of the argument, or if my defence on the tenancy agreement had failed for something that could have been proved wrong (which I knew couldn't have possibly happened), it was a waste of my time in the end. In hindsight, I should have just honed in on my AST. I spent way too much time and worry trying to pick holes from every possible angle.

3) Don't expect to be financially better off at the end of it, because you won't! - I lost a hell of a lot of time researching this, time writing legal documents, time/money copying/scanning/printing masses of paperwork, a considerably amount of stress, anxiety and worry. Even though I am financially capable of taking a hit had I lost, it still put significant stress on me which I couldn't help shake off. The costs you can claim back if you win are minuscule in compared to everything else you lose. Morals were the only thing that won in the end and whilst it feels like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders, I am absolutely not better off financially from this.

4) Treat it as a learning experience - the only positive I can take out of this whole experience is that I now know how a legal case goes through the small claims court, what has to be done and when, the time/costs involved etc...I will be much better prepared, experienced if/when I have to go through a similar process in the future.

Finally - I would like Coupon Mad to do the usual honours for me.

Redx

well done , a great read


ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

Umkomaas

Firstly, thank you very much for reporting back your successful court defence against VCS. An excellent win - Another One Bites the Dust!

Secondly, your advice to others who will inevitably find themselves following a similar path is very sound. I will bookmark your thread and ask those who come to us in similar circumstances to read it as a great guide to fight tickets in residential settings. If you have time, you'd be very welcome to give further first-hand advice to others - all help is a bonus in fighting this venomous industry.

The Judge had to keep repeating to the rep that as a matter of law, they had no legal right to impose their scheme on me. The Judge even questioned whether the guy had a law degree! (LOL) and that whilst the Judge could understand that he was there representing his client, you can't just simply spout nonsense with no legal grounding.

:rotfl:

Absolute gem! Quality! Had me chuckling. Well done Mr Judge!

And very well done Mr Wildsound.

Wildsound

One final question - with regards my costs - the judge said they have 14 days to do this. I have had no correspondence from VCS (as I kind of expected). How do I go about getting these paid? The paper order came through saying the case was dismissed, but the letter didn't mention or specify anything about the costs.

Coupon-mad

I would email VCS and tell them if they fail to pay your costs by the 14 days set by the court you will be informing the court and instructing bailiffs to attend VCS's premises to recover your costs and that of the bailiff attendance.

Well done! I just got back from a family Wedding away to see this outcome! :T

Snakes_Belly

Well done. I found in my hearing that the representative was not very well prepared. These reps underestimate a litigant in person.

BrownTrout

What was the reps name can you remember?

BrownTrout

And well done to